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Wednesday, 4 May 2016

HYPER-GRACE: JESUS’ PRE-CALVARY TEACHINGS IRRELEVANT

Are Christ’s teachings before He went to the cross irrelevant for believers?

A hyper-grace pastor, Joseph Prince, implies that what Jesus taught before He went to the cross is not relevant for believers.

His argument is this: Believers are now under the New Covenant, which is based on the merits of Jesus’ shed blood for the forgiveness of our sins. Since the New Covenant began only after Christ’s death at the cross, what Jesus taught before going to the cross belongs to the Old Covenant—and, thus, is not relevant for believers.

If you subscribe to his teaching, it would mean that these traditional gems of the Christian faith are not relevant to you as a believer:

The Sermon on the Mount (Beatitudes in Matthew 5)

The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6)

The Olivet Discourse on the end times (Matthew 24)

The parables of Jesus

That would mean an abridged, truncated version of the Bible, a la hyper-grace. So believers who love hard copies of scripture would only need to carry a much thinner Bible to church.This hyper-grace pastor, Joseph Prince, writes: “There is a lot of confusion and wrong believing in the church today because many Christians read their Bibles without rightly dividing the old and new covenants. They don’t realize that even some of the words which Jesus spoke in the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) are part of the old covenant. They were spoken before the cross as He had not yet died. The new covenant begins only after the cross, when the Holy Spirit was given on the Day of Pentecost” (p. 92, “Destined to Reign” by Joseph Prince).Equally strange is that, while Prince downplays Jesus’ wordsbeforegoing to the cross, he also downplays huge swathes of scripture afterCalvary such as Hebrews and Revelation that allude to unpleasant themes such as apostasy, perseverance, and overcoming.(Hebrews 6:4-8, Hebrews 10: 36-39, Revelation 2:10, Revelation 3:5 )**

Why? In order to accommodate the liberal teaching of hyper-grace, only portions of scripture that align well with it are allowed.

But what will happen to those who choose to tamper with scripture?

“And I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the words of prophecy written in this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book. And if anyone removes any of the words from this book of prophecy, God will remove that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book.” (Revelation 22:18-19)

Although this warning in Revelation 22:18-19 is specific to the Book of Revelation, the gravity of its message is directed at anyone who seeks to intentionally distort God's Word by sharing part of it, rather than the whole.

Moses warned in Deuteronomy 4:1-2 that the Israelites must obey God’s commandments, neither adding to nor taking away from it.

Paul, in his farewell message to the elders of the church at Ephesus, declared that he did not shrink from delivering to them the whole counselof God (Acts 20:27).

It is wise not to “cherry pick”. Tozer warns: "Heresy is not so much rejecting as selecting.” By examining the whole Bible, we do not dwell on half-truths or emphasise one truth at the expense of another equally fundamental truth.

To reiterate, though the warning in Revelation 22 above applies specifically to that book in the Bible, the underlying principle is that we must treat the whole Bible with utmost reverence so as not distort its message.

*** Hyper-grace represents a new wind of doctrine blowing across the church, doing enormous damage, deceiving believers and giving them a false sense of security.http://bit.ly/1ghthQF

When a doctrine is new, we must already be on the alert that something is fishy. For we do not invent another gospel but can only build upon the existing good old gospel, fundamental truths that are held by the church throughout its long history.

Watchman Nee teaches that there is no such thing as a new scriptural revelation as the canon of the Bible is already closed. But there can be fresh insights, amplification and exposition of whatever truth laid out in the Bible.

Indeed, we need to guard the truth against the assault of heresy (2 Tim 1:14) and hold fast to the truth (1 Tim 4:16), which was delivered once and for all to the saints (Jude 3). http://bit.ly/1NPpH1f

And how do we do this? By studying the whole counsel of God so that we know how to rightly handle the Word: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

Certainly, it does not mean we “divide” the Word and choose only the delectable portions—only the ear-tickling parts of scripture are relevant to us. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires” (2 Timothy 4:3).

By the way, have you come across any renowned author or teacher who teaches that what Christ taught before dying on the cross is irrelevant for believers? Would Baxter, Jones, Packer, Piper, Ryle, Spurgeon, Sproul or Tozer ever teach something unorthodox and outlandish like that?

It is utterly amazing that the standard of Bible literacy has fallen to such abysmal lows. Churchgoers simply accept a man’s words that what Christ taught BEFORE going to the cross is NOT relevant for believers as it belongs to the Old Covenant. Does it mean that all the well-respected theologians in church history are simply mistaken—and one man is correct?

Furthermore, has the following thought ever crossed your mind? If Christ’s words before Calvary are unimportant, as hyper-grace implies, it follows that what Jesus teaches about self-denial, obedience, abiding and bearing fruit (Luke 9:23, John 14: 21, John15: 7, 8) should have no relevance to believers. That’s hyper-grace for you. While it prides itself in being Christ-centred, it refuses to honour His words. http://bit.ly/1KVJQjt

It would also mean that the Old Testament and Christ’s words will have little influence on the life of a believer, who will then have to feed on the epistles for his or her spiritual sustenance.

Even Jesus did not disregard or downplay the importance of the Scriptures of His time. He chided the believers on the road to Emmaus: “And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:25-27).

Surely, the richness of God’s full revelation will be missed if we disregard or downplay the Old Testament and Christ’s pre-Calvary teachings as hyper-grace teaches. Thus, we will not be able to fully appreciate the fact that the Old Testament (OT) is the New Testament (NT) concealed, and the NT is the OT revealed.

If Jesus’ words are irrelevant and can be done away with, as hyper-grace asserts, why does Jesus categorically affirm that, though heaven and earth pass away, His words will not pass away?

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Matthew 24:35).

In fact, Jesus’ words are so significant that even, after His ascension, we need to be reminded about it by the Holy Spirit.

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26).

So Jesus’ words are definitely meant for believers, in sharp contrast to what this hyper-grace teacher tells us. Though Jesus is now absent physically on earth, His eternal words are so important that we need to cherish it and be constantly reminded of it by the Spirit, who now dwells within believers living under the New Covenant.

Now who says that what Jesus taught before He went to the cross is not relevant for believers?

“Christ’s momentous words, once spoken, impacts and influences the lives of man for all eternity—and no illustrious personality or teacher should dispute that. To do so would be tantamount to exalting man above God. However, it seems strange that many still prefer to cherish and uphold the words of their teacher rather than the Word or Christ, the incarnate Word.”

- Porridge for the Soul

FOOTNOTES

** According to hyper-grace, there is no need to overcome and persevere.

After all, according to hyper-grace, there is eternal security for believers even if they deny God or continue living in sin: http://bit.ly/1mIQKvq

And, according to hyper-grace, futures sins are automatically forgiven when we believe in Christ: http://bit.ly/1dXOjBB

QUOTES “Their understanding of the ministry and teachings of Jesus is erroneous because they consider the teachings of Jesus before Calvary as irrelevant for Christians (this includes the Sermon on the Mount, the parables and the Lord’s Prayer).”

(Chew Hock Hin Professor of Christian Doctrine of Trinity Theological College and the Theological and Research Advisor of the Ethos Institute of Public Christianity)

“Do you think there's any danger in claiming that the teachings of Jesus before the cross don't apply to us as believers today? I take a lot of time on this subject in my book, exposing what I believe to be the very real dangers in doing this, but for the moment, I'm wondering if you could tell me why grace preachers like Spurgeon or D.M. Lloyd-Jones gloried in the Sermon on the Mount and considered it to be choice material for believers today, whereas you reject it as being applicable to us. Were they missing something?”

“Whether interpreting the Old Testament, or the words which Jesus spoke in the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), let Jesus and His finished work at the cross be the key to unlocking all the precious gems hidden in God’s Word. This means that we have to read everything in the context of what He came to do and what He accomplished at the cross for us. For example, some things that Jesus said in the four gospels were spoken before the cross—before He had died for our sins—and some were said after the cross—when He had already won our complete forgiveness and rightfully given us His righteousness. It is the latter that applies to us (believers under the new covenant) today.”

Any serious, diligent student of the Bible will be able to discern the dangerous errors of hyper-grace that undermine the eternal security of believers. However, we are thankful that a Singaporean theologian's clear exposition of hyper-grace recently has reinforced the view that it (hyper-grace) is indeed a heresy.

When a movement claims to be preaching things not preached since the days of Paul, when people say, "My pastor is teaching things in the Word no one has seen for centuries," that immediately raises some concerns. http://bit.ly/1DlhtVGREVIEW OF DESTINED TO REIGN

"Hyper-Grace teaches, 'Once Born Again, Christians need never again repent for sins because they are automatically forgiven by the Blood of Jesus the moment they are committed.' This is the most Bible-illiterate, dangerous message we could accept in this crucial hour. Christians must strongly reject it.

"God's Word is clear. His Grace is offered only through continual human repentance. Therefore, without continuing repentance there is no continuing Grace. When human repentance ceases, God's Grace becomes unavailable.

7 comments:

Watch out, be alert and vigilant concerning this new wind of doctrine.If Jesus’ words are irrelevant and can be done away, as hyper-grace asserts, why does Jesus categorically affirm that, though heaven and earth pass away, His words will not pass away? “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Matthew 24:35). In fact, Jesus’ words are so significant that even, after His ascension, we need to be reminded about them by the Holy Spirit. “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26).So Jesus’ words are definitely meant for believers, in sharp contrast to what this hyper-grace teacher tells us. Though Jesus is now absent physically on earth, His eternal words are so important that we need to cherish it and be constantly reminded of it by the Spirit, who now dwells within believers living under the New Covenant. Now who says that what Jesus taught before He went to the cross is not relevant for believers?

“Christ’s momentous words, once spoken, impacts and influences the lives of man for all eternity—and no illustrious personality or teacher should dispute that. To do so would be tantamount to exalting man above God. However, it seems strange that many still prefer to cherish and uphold the words of their teacher rather than the Word or Christ, the incarnate Word.”

It is utterly amazing that the standard of Bible literacy has fallen to such abysmal lows. Churchgoers simply accept a man’s words that what Christ taught BEFORE going to the cross is NOT relevant for believers as it belongs to the Old Covenant. Does it mean that all the well-respected theologians in church history are simply mistaken—and one man is correct?

Hyper-grace pastor, Joseph Prince, writes: “There is a lot of confusion and wrong believing in the church today because many Christians read their Bibles without rightly dividing the old and new covenants. They don’t realize that even some of the words which Jesus spoke in the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) are part of the old covenant. They were spoken before the cross as He had not yet died. The new covenant begins only after the cross, when the Holy Spirit was given on the Day of Pentecost” (p. 92, “Destined to Reign” by Joseph Prince).What he is implying is that the Old Testament and Christ’s pre-Calvary teachings are not important or relevant for believers as they belong to the Old Covenant. If that is so, then believers will suffer from spiritual malnutrition from severely restricted diet.

A hyper-grace adherent commented that Pastor Prince did NOT teach that Jesus’ teachings before going to the cross is NOT relevant for believers. Well, if that is the case, then he should look into the quotes by theologian Roland Chia and Dr Michael Brown, who examined Prince’s teachings and came to the conclusion that Prince did indeed mean what he wrote in Page 92 of his book, “Destined to Reign”. These two quotes and the Page 92 extract are found in the above article.

“Whether interpreting the Old Testament, or the words which Jesus spoke in the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), let Jesus and His finished work at the cross be the key to unlocking all the precious gems hidden in God’s Word. This means that we have to read everything in the context of what He came to do and what He accomplished at the cross for us. For example, some things that Jesus said in the four gospels were spoken before the cross—before He had died for our sins—and some were said after the cross—when He had already won our complete forgiveness and rightfully given us His righteousness. It is the latter that applies to us (believers under the new covenant) today.” http://bit.ly/1TgFmIC (Link from Joseph Prince’s website)

A most important rule of engagement is not to misrepresent what the other faction teaches. It is highly unlikely that both our learned gentlemen, Dr Roland Chia and Dr Michael Brown, would not have carefully scrutinised the teachings of hyper-grace pastor, Joseph Prince, before making a stand against the latter.